Activities by Grade Level
Elementary

Do You See What I See?
Snapshots
Friends or Family Group Portraits
    Interdisciplinary Extensions
    Connections to the Collection
Samuel Miller – Emily Moulton Collage
    Interdisciplinary Extensions

Do You See What I See?
Visual Arts: Standard 2, Identify and apply the elements of visual art and principles of design.
Language Arts: Standard 3, Opportunities for speaking, listening and viewing

What do your students see in these portraits?
Samuel Miller’s Emily Moulton & Joseph H. Davis’s Portrait of Mark, Abigail, and Lois Susan Demeritt

Have them call out words of items they recognize and make a list. Do they notice any particular shapes, colors or patterns?

Snapshots
Visual Arts: Standard 3, Select and apply a range of subject matter, symbols and ideas

Have your students bring to class a family snapshot taken in their own home to compare and contrast with Davis’s Portrait of Mark, Abigail, and Lois Susan Demeritt. What can you tell about life in our country today by looking at a family ‘snapshot’ or portrait?

Friends or Family Group Portraits
Grade – 3rd or 4th grade

Aim/Instructional Objectives

1. To introduce students to portraiture.
2. To have students gain enough information to distinguish portraits from other art forms.
3. To make students aware of the role portraits have played throughout history.
4. To have students understand how visual information can help determine time periods and allow us to learn more about people depicted in paintings.

See student examples >

Materials/Supplies Needed

• Pencil
• 12 x18" light colored construction paper or tag board (gray, light blue or green, etc.)
• Oval templates (optional)
• Tempera or acrylic paints in a variety of skin tones, as well as assorted other colors for hair and clothing.
• Paint brushes
• Styrofoam trays
• Water containers
• Construction paper crayons and fine point permanent markers
• Scraps of fabric and lace (optional)
• Glue (optional)
• Visuals - some examples of portraits

Length – (3) 45-50 minute class periods

Procedure

1. Begin with a class discussion and brainstorming session where the focus is on the idea that portraits tell a lot about the people in them. Once examples of portraits have been shown and the reasons artists create portraits explored, students are to:
2. Turn paper horizontally and trace or draw an oval 3 or more times in upper 1/3 of paper to represent heads. (Keep in mind that some of the people will be behind others.)
3. Draw in neck, shoulders and arms, adding hands where needed.
4. Paint heads and any other skin areas using skin tones without adding features (some color mixing may be required to achieve various skin colors.)
5. While skin areas are drying, begin painting clothing – not adding any details such as buttons, zippers, logos, etc.
6. Paint hair using one or more colors.
7. Use pencil to draw facial features onto dry ovals.
8. Use permanent markers to outline features and construction paper crayons to add color for eyes and lips.
9. Add any designs and details on clothing using pencil and then permanent markers and construction paper crayons.
10. Optional collage materials such as ribbon or bits of fabric may be added.

Corresponding Standards
National Standards

• Content Standard 1: Understanding and applying media, techniques, and processes.
• Content Standard 2: Using knowledge of structures and functions.
• Content Standard 3: Choosing and evaluating a range of subject matter, symbols and ideas to communicate meaning.
• Content Standard 5: Reflecting upon and assessing the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others.

New Hampshire Standards

• Standard 1: Apply appropriate media, techniques, and processes.
• Standard 4: Analyze the visual arts in relation to history and culture.
• Standard 5: Analyze, interpret and evaluate their own and others’ artwork.

Assessment

1. Does the student’s work depict people?
2. Is there enough visual information included for the viewer to be able to determine more about those depicted such as period of time, interests, connection to others, etc.?
3. Is the work neatly executed and does it demonstrate a sensitivity to artistic judgement?

New Vocabulary Words
Self portrait – a portrait of oneself done by oneself.
Profile – a human head or face represented or seen in a side view.
Front view – a human head or face represented or seen as facing the viewer.
Proportion – a part considered in relation to the whole.
Mixed media – a technique involving the use of two or more artistic media, such as ink and pastel or painting and collage, that are combined in a single composition.
Visual information – in the case of a portrait, clues pictured in the work that may tell the viewer more about the person depicted. For example, hair style, clothing, musical instruments, books, etc. can all help determine such things as a person’s age, financial status and time period in which they lived.

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Connections in the Currier Museum of Art collection:

• Joseph H. Davis, Portrait of Mark, Abigail, and Lois Susan Demeritt, 1835
• William Merritt Chase, Portrait of Master Otis Barton and His Grandfather, 1903
• Ammi Phillips, Abraham Sleight, 1823-1825, Ruth Roe Sleight, 1823-1825
• Samuel Miller, Emily Moulton, 1852

Additional Information & Resources
Other examples of familiar portraits throughout history, for example, Mona Lisa or works by Rembrandt and/or Vincent Van Gogh; Examples of school photographs both individual and class.

Samuel Miller – Emily Moulton Collage
Grade – Grade 4/Upper Elementary

Aim/Instructional Objectives

1. Students will learn about 19th century folk art.
2. Students will learn how to create a portrait.
3. Students will learn how to combine different materials to create a collage.

See student examples >

Materials/Supplies Needed

• 12 x 15" oak tag
• 12 x 15" wallpaper
• 6 x 9" black construction paper (dress)
• 4 x 4" and two 1 x 6" peach construction paper (head, shoulders, arms)
• Scrap box
• Lace, rick rack, trim, cloth, buttons
• Tacky glue, glue
• Scissors, pencils
• White colored pencils
• 3 x 3" brown construction paper (hair)
• 1 x 12" dark green construction paper
• Colored pencils

Length – (2) 50-minute periods

Procedure

1. Discuss the background of Samuel Miller and his painting, Emily Moulton. (See lesson)
2. Glue 12 x 15 " wall paper to 12 x 15" oak tag
3. Put student’s name and class code on backside of paper.
4. Take 6 x 9" black construction paper and hold vertically. Draw in step-by-step manner a dress using white colored pencil. Cut out.
5. Take 4 x 4" peach construction paper. Draw a "squarish" oval and shoulders. Utilize the entire 4 x 4" area.
6. Place the cut out shape on to the 3 x 3" brown or black construction paper. Draw the outline of the hair slightly larger than the squarish oval. Remove and draw in the hair at the side of the face. Cut out and glue to face.
7. Use colored pencils and black fine point markers to add facial details of eyes, eyebrows, nose, mouth, cheeks.
8. Glue head and dress to background, leave space for legs and shoes, plus table with vase.
9. Fold two 1 x 6" peach construction paper in half. Draw and cut out arms and hands.
10. Using fabric and scrap box, cut out patterned stockings, shoes, book, etc. Add lace and details.
11. Draw and cut out table with vase of flowers. Use scrap box and black fine point markers for details.

Corresponding Standards
National Standards

• Content Standard 1: Understanding and applying media, techniques, and processes.
• Content Standard 2: Using knowledge of structures and functions.
• Content Standard 3: Choosing and evaluating a range of subject matter, symbols, and ideas.
• Content Standard 4: Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and cultures.
• Content Standard 5: Reflecting upon and assessing the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others.
• Content Standard 6: Making connections between visual arts and other disciplines.

New Hampshire Standards

• Standard 1: Apply appropriate media, techniques, and processes.
• Standard 2: Identify and apply the elements of visual art and principles of design.
• Standard 3: Select and apply a range of subject matter, symbols and ideas.
• Standard 4: Analyze the visual arts in relation to history and culture.
• Standard 5: Analyze, interpret and evaluate their own and others’ work.
• Standard 6: Make connections amongst the visual arts, other disciplines, and daily life.
• Standard 7: Understand the range of careers in the field of visual arts and identify careers associated with this field.

Assessment

1. Did the student create a Samuel Miller inspired collage?
2. Did the student demonstrate an understanding of Miller’s style of portraiture?
3. Did the student demonstrate an understanding of 19th century folk art through the use of composition, decorative detail and use of flat areas of bright color?

New Vocabulary Words
Folk art – traditional art made by people who had little or no formal schooling in art.
Decorative detail – close attention to detail such as lace edges of a dress, patterned stockings or the careful rendering of a vase of flowers.
Frontal pose – a portrait of a person who is positioned in a straight on pose.

Interdisciplinary Extensions

1. Social studies: study of colonial times
2. Language Arts: a story about Emily Moulton’s life in Charlestown, MA.
3. Math: proportions of the human body.

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